Is using a VPN to log in against ToS?

I ask this because my account has recently been banned for 'Abuse of the Economy' and I've been using a VPN to log in from my university where WoW is blocked. I haven't bought gold, received large amounts of gold or items from anyone and honestly cannot figure out what else might be the problem.

When using the VPN it logs me in from a Chicago server and I live in NY so I'm wondering if this is the issue. Has anyone else ever had this issue and if so were you able to dispute your ban successfully? Is it better for me to call blizzard support and talk to someone on the phone and try to explain or should I submit an appeal online? Or am I just SoL? =/

I did read through the ToS this morning and didn't see anything regarding using a VPN, but perhaps I don't fully understand how a VPN works or what it is, any insight anyone can give would be very much appreciated =/

I already got banned =/ I'm wondering if it is or isn't against ToS so that I can dispute my ban properly, because I honestly wasn't aware it was an issue and read several thread here about how other use or have used a VPN to log in from their universities.

That guys full of it. Blizzard shouldn't even be able to tell whether or not you're using VPN unless they have access to whatever VPN'ing into. Best bet is to just call Blizzard (or email, but I always prefer talking) and to ask why the ban. Chances are you got hacked and don't know it.

I sincerely hope that I got hacked (never thought I'd say that) because I'd rather not have to buy the game all over again and relevel my monk to 90 =/ I already put in an account recovery on the off-chance that I was hacked, but I will have to call them today as well most likely. And I suppose I should reattach my authenticator as well if all goes well.

Thanks for the sincere answers guys instead of something like 'you deserve it'

I sincerely hope that I got hacked (never thought I'd say that) because I'd rather not have to buy the game all over again and relevel my monk to 90 =/ I already put in an account recovery on the off-chance that I was hacked, but I will have to call them today as well most likely. And I suppose I should reattach my authenticator as well if all goes well.

Thanks for the sincere answers guys instead of something like 'you deserve it'

The "Abuse of the Economy" reason is often applied by Warden. Most likely since you logged in from diffrent locations under a short period of time (Chicago and NY)

Is this going to be a problem in getting my account back though? Is it okay for me to tell them I think it might be a mistake that occurred from me using a VPN? Might sound silly but I'm honestly kind of worried I won't get my veteran account back =/

and @ MacHaggis I've been using a paid for service called PrivateTunnel. I think that ones okay.

They probably mistook you for a gold seller, seeing that you have logged in from both NY and Chicago in such short amounts of time. You could try justifying yourself by writing to them, they usually understand. That and gold sellers never write to them trying to get their accounts back.

Is this going to be a problem in getting my account back though? Is it okay for me to tell them I think it might be a mistake that occurred from me using a VPN? Might sound silly but I'm honestly kind of worried I won't get my veteran account back =/

From my own experience when I had a simillar issue I called the support and explained the whole situation. Ended up with getting my account back and they also removed the flaging of it.

Unless you are using a free public VPN (which is foolish, you have no idea who is listening along), Blizzard can not be aware of you being on a VPN. Even if you were, it is NOT against the ToS.

I was recently perm banned for using a VPN (abuse of the economy). If you do get banned for using it, don't freak out as I did (geek, i know). Just send in an appeal, and they will re-open your account right away.
To reply to MacHaggis, using a VPN/proxy is against the terms of use, and will get you banned.

Here is the reply to my ban-appeal:

Xeyomin
Customer Service Representative
Hello,

I'm afraid there are no ways to 'clear' an account for VPN use. Any use of proxies is against the terms of use and can lead to actions being taken against the account in much the same way as you experienced previously.

As always though, if there is anything else we can do for you, please let us know! Otherwise, I hope you have a great day!

They probably mistook you for a gold seller, seeing that you have logged in from both NY and Chicago in such short amounts of time. You could try justifying yourself by writing to them, they usually understand. That and gold sellers never write to them trying to get their accounts back.

This was exactly the explanation they gave to a guild member of mine who was using a VPN and got banned.

He appeared to log in over the course of a few hours from several different locations in Europe and he got flagged for suspicious activity. A quick call to Blizzard had it sorted out in no time.

I don't know the recipe for success, but I know that the recipe for failure is trying to please everyone.

Hi all, just to help clear this up - using proxies is not against the ToU, however in logging in with one it can look to us like the account is getting compromised, which can also result in an account lock. We realize that using VPN's is the only viable solution for many of our players so you'll want to make sure that the account does have one of the free mobile authenticators set up, which will not only help prevent these kinds of locks, but will keep your account protected as well. To have us look at an account that's had its access restricted, please submit the inquiry to us by using this portal. Feel free to reach out to me here via PM as well, although I can't discuss any specific actions taken on an account, I will be happy to respond.

a lot of hackers use VPN to hide where they are coming from while they use exploits and such. So when Blizzard can see your IP change and it matches an IP used by those type of people........BAN HAMMER!!!

After I verified who i was and explained the switch to the proxy they cleared it all up in an hour.

When you connect with a VPN, more than one user is using the same IP, yes?
I used a VPN a few months back because there was a severe connection issue happening all over Arizona and the same thing happened to me.
Either way, if more than one person shares your IP, and they commit a bannable offense - boom, blanket IP-ban.

Hi all, just to help clear this up - using proxies is not against the ToU, however in logging in with one it can look to us like the account is getting compromised, which can also result in an account lock. We realize that using VPN's is the only viable solution for many of our players so you'll want to make sure that the account does have one of the free mobile authenticators set up, which will not only help prevent these kinds of locks, but will keep your account protected as well. To have us look at an account that's had its access restricted, please submit the inquiry to us by using this portal. Feel free to reach out to me here via PM as well, although I can't discuss any specific actions taken on an account, I will be happy to respond.

so basically that means yo ucan use a VPN if you have an authenticator on your account?

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so if you use a shared ip VPN you get banned but if your the sole person on that VPN ip address then its perfectly fine to use it.